Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc (Seacem) grew its profits by more than eightfold last year, the company said.

"The board of directors approved the separate audited financial statements of the corporation for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2012, showing a profit for the year of PHP3753m (US$92.2m) for the parent company," Seacem said.

Last year's profits are a big jump from the PHP449m earned in 2011, the company said in an e-mail yesterday when sought for details.

Seacem became a key investor of cement firm Lafarge Republic Inc in 2003.

In November last year, Seacem conducted a share swap that enabled Lafarge  to comply with the bourse's 10 per cent minimum public float requirement. Lafarge's public ownership, as a result, rose to 10.29 per cent from six per cent.

The same transaction, however, slashed Seacem's own public float level to the current 2.41 per cent from 16.49 per cent.